But Parasti Kya Hai? | Younus AlGohar | ALRA TV

Sayyidi Younus AlGohar explains what true idol-worship is and whether people today still engage in idol-worship that has been forbidden in Islam. Summary: - The difference between the idol-worshippers of the eras of prophets and the idol-worshippers today is that the former knew exactly why they were engaged in idol-worshipping. Whereas, the idol-worshippers of today do not know why they are worshipping idols. In the past, God would send his Messengers and friends who would instruct people on the path to guidance. After their departure from the world, being overcome with emotions of love and affection, the people of the time would create statues of the personalities. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said, 'Do not make my grave an idol-worshipping hub after my departure.' - What he meant was, ‘Do not make an idol of me in order to worship it,’ because this custom was common back then. For example, when people began to engage in wrongful acts at the grave of Moses, the inner faculties of Moses left his grave and so, his grave was void of his presence. - Idol-worshipping has been going on for a long time. It began from the era of Adam the Eminent One. When Abel killed Cain, the followers of Abel were denied access to the Holy Black Stone. There is an image within the Holy Black Stone. When the followers of Abel were banned from revering the Holy Black Stone, they began to make idols. They thought, 'We no longer have access to the Holy Black Stone and we don't know what the Lord's image looks like.' So, they began to make idols in hopes that one of the idols would resemble the Lord's image. - Statue-making is an art form as well as a means of worship. People get statues made of themselves or family members anyway just as a memento. For example, there are wax statues of different famous people in Madame Tussauds wax museum. For example, they have statues of Donald Trump, Marilyn Monroe, Shahrukh Khan, Benazir Bhutto and Amitabh Bachan. These statues are not created so that they can be worshipped. Rather, people consider it a great honour and acknowledge of their achievements to have a statue in Madame Tussauds. So whether or not statue-making is forbidden depends on your intention behind making it. If you make a statue to worship it, considering it to be your Lord, this is forbidden. However there is nothing wrong with taking pictures or making a statue as a memento.